Lloyds profits dragged down by PPI claims deadline

Lloyds Banking Group has posted an 11 per cent drop in profits for 2015 after it set aside £4bn for missold payment protection insurance.

The bank has reported a pre-tax profit of £1.6bn, compared with a £1.8bn profit in 2014.

Of Lloyds’ total £4bn PPI provision, £2.1bn was set aside between October and December, after the FCA set out plans to impose a deadline for consumers to bring PPI complaints. Consumers are likely to have at least until spring 2018 to complain.

The government’s stake in Lloyds has fallen to around 9 per cent. Lloyds also incurred a cost of £745m in it sale of TSB to Spanish bank Banco Sabadell. Lloyds was forced to sell off TSB by the EU following the state aid the bank received during the financial crisis.

Lloyds has reduced its total bonus pool by £30m after the bank was fined a record £117m in June over failings in the way it handled PPI complaints.

Chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio has been handed a total pay package worth £8.8m.

He says: “We made a strong start in 2015 to the next phase of our strategy and have delivered a robust financial performance, enabling increased dividend payments.

“We remain confident in our ability to become the best bank for customers and shareholders, while continuing to support the economy and helping Britain prosper.”

Despite a surge in the share price following the results, the price is still short of what the government needs to break even.

Laith Khalaf, senior analyst, at Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “The public sale of Lloyds is still on ice, and while the share price shot up this morning, it’s still around 10 per cent shy of where it needs to be for the government to break even on the bailout.

“It now seems unlikely the deal will resurface again before the Brexit vote, given the market volatility we could see as we approach the referendum date.”